Another Fool On The Hill …

Just when I think I have seen or heard it all, just when I think we have gone as low as we can go, somebody proves to me that there is yet another nether-layer in our government, our society today. This latest came onto my radar yesterday and has set my teeth on edge.

The headline read …

“Echoing Stalin, House Republican calls for ‘purge’ of the Department of Justice”

The story …

On Tuesday, Rep. Francis Rooney (R-FL) called for a “purge” of the Department of Justice to root out officials who may be biased against Trump.

“People need a good clean government,” Rooney told MSNBC. “I would like to see the directors of those agencies [the DOJ and FBI] purge it and say, ‘Look, we’ve got a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here. Those are the people to see and know the good work’s being done, not these people who are kind of the deep state.’” – ThinkProgress, 27 December 2017

It should be noted that Mr. Rooney is a freshman Congressman who has no political background and until his election served as the CEO of his and his brothers’ investment and holding company. Mr. Rooney is one of those wealthy politicians that inhabit our Congress today, owning a $14.4 million waterfront estate in Naples, Florida, and a $2.4 million mansion in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It has been estimated between 600,000 to 1,750,000 people died at the hands of the Stalin-led Soviet government during the Great Purge of 1936-1938, a campaign of political repression a large-scale purge of the Communist Party and government officials, repression of peasants and the Red Army leadership, widespread police surveillance, suspicion of “saboteurs”, “counter-revolutionaries”, imprisonment, and arbitrary executions. Is this the path we want to follow? I think not!

Some of us are, understandably, deeply concerned when we hear the word “purge” used in connection with our government, especially when used by our elected representatives who are expected to promote the good of the nation and its people, not necessarily the egomaniac in the White House.

Rooney’s statements stem from the calls by the far right to halt or discredit the investigation by Robert Mueller into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. You may recall that Mr. Mueller relieved one of his team of duties in the investigation because it was discovered that the man, FBI agent Peter Strzok, had sent a text message to his girlfriend in which he referred to Donald Trump as an “idiot”. Mr. Mueller relieved Strzok of his duties in the investigation immediately in order to preserve the integrity of the investigation, but Trump & Co. seized on the incident to attempt to discredit the entire investigation. Give a dog a bone …

Mr. Rooney’s suggestion of a ‘purge’ to rid the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation of all those who are not fans of Donald Trump, is chilling, for it is strongly suggestive of a path toward that autocracy of which I have been warning for a full year now. It is reminiscent of the oaths of fealty in medieval Europe, or more recently, the pledge of loyalty Trump asked of FBI Director James Comey.

On November 19, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln gave his historic Gettysburg Address, which reads, in part …

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

You will note that Lincoln did not say, “… government of the Trumps, by the Trumps, for the Trumps …” Mr. Rooney and others of his ilk might be well advised to study a bit of history before opening their mouths to speak.

Mr. Rooney later tried to walk back his comments a bit, but it’s funny, isn’t it, how the word, once heard, can never be unheard. And he continued, even so, to maintain that the FBI should oust individuals he views as “politically compromised”, meaning not Trump supporters. I have two thoughts on this:

If only Trump supporters are allowed to work in federal bureaus and agencies, I doubt we would ever be able to fully staff any of said bureaus and agencies

If only Trump supporters are allowed to work in the federal government, then we will be living under a dictatorship

Rooney’s use of the word ‘purge’ was foolish, and could be forgiven had it come from a kid working the drive-thru at McDonalds. But it was spoken by a man who is in a position to make decisions that affect our lives, and from him it is unconscionable and unacceptable. He is a first term member of the House of Representatives. I hope that next November, Floridians will ensure that he is a “one and done” representative.

79 thoughts on “Another Fool On The Hill …”

Dear Jill,
He is another another presidential republican conservative sycophant from Florida who is could care less about what those outside this bubble.

He has drunk the kool-aid of this administration.

Rep. Rooney was one of the first prominent Florida Republicans to climb aboard the Trump train, and he has since become a leading conservative voice. He has been a U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican and he owns a lucrative construction company that built the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium and the presidential libraries of both Bush presidents. He has been one of the top Republican rainmakers in the country.

He deserves one of your idiot’s awards.

According to a Florida bulldog blog, there are suspicions that the US Congressional freshman is possibly under investigation. “The attorneys, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, concurred that the expenditures (large payments to law firms with reputation on defending against FEC investigations) seem to indicate that a probe by the commission, also known as the FEC, is taking place. “There could be a civil investigation by the FEC inquiring about donations and expenditures within the campaign,” said one lawyer, who has represented clients accused of federal civil and criminal campaign violations. “Once the FEC starts an inquiry, you got to get a lawyer.”

The other lawyer, who primarily represents city, county and state candidates, said it could also be that Rooney is under investigation by the Office of Congressional Ethics. “That would entitle him to the use of his campaign funds to defend against a complaint,” the attorney said. “I can’t see anything else these payments are for but an investigation.”

Thanks for the additional info, Gronda! I would love to see him go down and hard! We do NOT need his type in Congress!!! Another really evil candidate for mid-terms … have you heard of Paul Nehlen? Gives me chills to even think that his kind could be making decisions about our lives.
Hugs!!!

Yep….Doctrinal Imposition 101. No dissent.
Another rich guy who’s never read any history.
Doesn’t work sonny. Louis XIV, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin. And read The Best and the Brightest (1972) by journalist David Halberstam which relates the paralytic effect the McCarthy era had on US policy in East Asia.
Where do they get these Yakky – Doodles from?

No not all. There are and have been republicans who display socially aware views and they were the party who was against slavery.
This should be nuanced.
‘Do you agree with (say Mr Bannon)?’
‘Yes,’
‘Are you sure about that?’
‘Yes’
”You’ve 24hrs & 30 minutes to think about that…..Please read this evidence on the matter..’
One should always nuance these things.

That was a different a time, with a different set of values. I have only been truly politically aware of AMERICAN politics since Johnson and Nixon. Since that time, to the best of my awareness, Republicans have been the party of the rich. (I am not discussing the Democrats at all here.) Everything the GOP has done since Nixon undermines the fabric of what America sees itself to be. Now along comes Trump, and he is showing the Republican Party’s true colours. They are selfish, greedy, and without a care in the world for the plankton they themselves feed on.
The thing they have forgotten, they cannot exist without the plankton. It is a symbiotic relationship. But that no longer matters to them. They, the party members alive right now, are getting what they want. Who cares what the future might bring…

But always be careful of labelling everyone in one group as being of the same stripe as their extreme wing.
A nation can only survive when it is work on a consensus basis. There must always be dialogue. The whole basis of gaining influence or control of a government structure is convince at least some of those within the opposition that you are a better alternative than their own extreme wing.
It is at the lower levels this work needs to be done, thus the demagogues, the opportunists and the cranks are undermined and pushed out of control.
Dialogue 101 always carries a measure of subversion, it’s being open about it is the thing.

All true enough, and even a lot of my own words coming back at me, but rank and file Republicans are not my focus right now, even though they need to be considered.
However, not being American, not being confirmed in the republic, I am focusing on the leadership of the of the party, because they have all the power right now. I did not clarify that, nor did I make that clear, for which I apologize, but I stand by my words. And as long as the rank and file allow the leadership to retain that power, they are as guilty as anyone else, because their decency has been put aside in favour of Republican politics.
Now, I hope we can agree to disagree, and get on with getting you and yours back to having some power. That is a necessary first step… in my mind.

Oh I agree over the Republican leadership! The sight of this collection of rich folk fooling about with budgets and threatening to shut down the government systems during the Obama years was one of the obscenities of that time.
The problem with being a member of any political party lies in having to reconcile your views with party unity and the willingness to see your party in power as opposed to the other party.
This is an issue I have with my own natural home-ground the UK Labour Party. They currently have an aggressive hard-left wing in charge. To add to the paradox this is also my natural place. However their lack of flexibility and willingness to understand the complexities of the world leads in some circumstances to an aggressive insular approach which mirrors the US Alt Right- ie ‘The Party Right or Wrong- but we are Always Right and if you disagree we will reply with abuse’. Which is why I have not joined the party, I cannot abide this intolerance which the leadership seem unwilling to control.
Far better if we have dialogue between people. There will never be complete agreement over many things. But people do need to realise those on the other side are not all devils incarnate.
Good to be exchanging views with you Rawgod- dialogue, this is good.
Best wishes
Roger

Please, rawgod, not Rawgod. But that is of no consequence.
I belong to no political party either, but that is because I do not believe in politics. In fact, as a “nephew” of Great Britain, (Canada), one of the world’s earliest and oldest democracies, I do not believe in democracy. I do not believe living beings have to be governed at all. Each and every one of us is capable of governing ourselves, if only we were allowed to be responsible for ourselves. The amazing thing about being responsible for yourself, that makes it incumbent upon us “a priori” to be responsible for everyone else. This was actually a surprise to me, not even considering such a possibility when I decided that the only person who could be responsible for my ideas, thoughts, actions, etc. was me. This was a choice I made many years ago, and it freed me amazingly, but it burdened me incredibly. I now have all the burdens of this world, indeed this universe, upon my shoulders, even those I can do nothing about right now. But what I can do is share my vision, and understanding with people every opportunity I get, this being one of them.
And while wisdom tells me the world at large is not ready for this vision, I cannot conduct my duty to all living beings by hiding that vision. Help your children to learn to take responsibilitilty for who they are “before” they have to learn to be responsible for what they have already done. THAT is the future of life on this world, and it will only take a few generations to see this world change.
Above all, please do not tell me such a world is impossible, because it is not only possible, it is the best possible world, and it is completely doable. All it takes is trust that we will all become what we are truly capable of being.
Thank you for the opportunity to spread my vision, even if no one hears it.

Quote: “Thank you for the opportunity to spread my vision, even if no one hears it.” Oh, someone hears always. Your vision echoes mine, it would seem, to the letter. You speak of self empowerment. Couple that with compassion, let billions catch the vision, the world changes. It is that simple.

Thank you. Sha’Tara. I truly did not know anyone else shared that exact vision. I have met some, not many, who have come close, and I am sure we probably differ on some smaller points, but to know someone shares that larger vision is nice to know. Have you felt as alone in the universe as I have, or do you know others who share this vision? As for compassion, I took that as an automatic, but it certainly does not hurt to say it aloud. I have to admit, I take a lot for granted, and maybe I should not. I think, once you come to this vision, other things just happen along, as did the unexpected understanding I was responsible for others because I accepted responsibility for myself.
But may I ask you, and this is not intended as finding a point of diversion, but merely a point of understanding, did you come to your vision through a theistic or atheistic lens? The reason I ask, I came to this through an atheistic lens (or was it that the atheism came with the lens–chicken or egg, but who cares!), and because I am atheist, albeit spiritual atheist, I am ignored by both theists and atheists. So, this begs two questions, is the vision compatible with a theistic viewpoint of life, and if it is, does this make it any more acceptable to others?
Truly, atheists of other ilks are just as close-minded to my ideas as are theists, but at least it is easier to have conversations with certain other atheists, while to try to have such a conversation with the theists I meet is to be accused of blasphemy, of doing the devil’s work. I think, if one is a theist, it should be seen as a god’s work, not a devil’s, but I guess that when I gave up theism, I virtually gave up everything I was ever taught as a child. Especially, how to think like a theist, lol.
Anyways, glad to know you are alive, Sha’Tara. I no longer think I stand alone.

Hi rawgod… in my world there are no labels, no isms. There are no religions, no politics, no economic theories… there isn’t even a civilization. I exist as a self empowered entity and chose compassion as a life purpose. I can and will discuss anything; will use scathing satire at times even, but never as one enmeshed in the argument, just as an observer. I have no stake in any outcome but as you correctly state, the self empowered is responsible for all of it and it is an awesome burden, rivalling the worst of the labours of Hercules. I see the world for what it is, currently a horror show. I don’t like it and don’t want to be a part of it but as I am in it, I would help people understand their own plight if they wanted to, but I expect them not to desire to better themselves – no illusions there, it all boils down to programming. By choice I eschew family relationships and I remind those who want to be friends to seek the comfort of friendship elsewhere. The person who matters the most to me is the one standing in front of me at the moment. I don’t need, nor would I want to be needed. How I got here at 71 years is a long story. I have been very religious, very spiritual, an environmental and political activist, and then very “non” all of that. The deeper philosophy on the infinity of life, and mind, that I got from non-Earth teachers. It’s good to be introduced to life from a cosmic viewpoint after chasing my tail in the fishbowl. In closing, I don’t look for agreement or disagreement, just solutions.

Bravo! Well said! And all those other euphamisms (oops, sorry, no isms).
I don’t know whether to say you are lucky to have had non-Earth teachers or not. I had help coming to my self-empowerment, but it was nothing like yours. Not important though. I think it all started with a Tibetan Buddhist monk coming up to me in a restaurant in Vancouver, Canada late one night in 1967, and after taking a long gaze deep into my eyes, he told me “I was not ready yet,” or words to that effect. In my mind my journey to self-empowerment started there, but I also see that it could not have started there, else he would not have searched me out nor said what he said. So, again, the chicken and the egg, or should that read ego, lol?
Anyways, however it has happened, both of us have come to our understandings later in life (I am 68, again, though, not important). I do have to say though, that I am glad I am alive, espescially in this time of time of desperation. If people like us can hope to actually make a difference in this world, it will be in a time such as this. You talk about forgiveness, and as much as Trump can never be forgiven for being such an asswipe, yet he is helping create this desperation both of us and others can sense. And we can use it to our advantage.
But just to be clear, I, the writer of this comment, do not mean to be using “I” “we” etc as personal pronouns, but just as the spirits that survive within us, and that will survive after our bodies’ deaths. It is so hard, when using human languages, to mean what we are truly trying to say, the available words are too restrictive. Would that we could communicate by telepathy, but I seem to have wrecked that part of my mind back when I used LSD in the 60s. That too was the best of times, and the worst of times. My last conscious astral experience happened just a few years later, had while I can believe certain dreams are still astral experiences, I cannot do it consciously anymore, so I stopped trying. But again, all that is baggage that while it might be interesting is only baggage, nothing more.
Life is what is important, and how we choose to live is tantamount to how we will progress. And how we progress lies the foundations for how all life will progress. To Life, Sha’Tara. May you be at peace.

Thanks, and you likewise. PS: I don’t have any problems with personal pronouns, just like I don’t have any problems with keeping certain foods in plastic containers. We use what comes to hand, and even in “Utopia” they had problems (ref. to “Utopia” by Sir Thomas More)

Thank you for sharing your ideas with us rawgod.
You might say, sadly, I belong to an opposite way of doing things. On the onset I would admit this has been tried and is flawed, badly, but I keep on hoping.
Anyway, to begin:
Living in the UK & steeped in a European history of, say, 2,000 years I have a reached a conclusion that Humanity cannot be trusted with too much freedom. Whereas the vast majority of folk, if left to their own devices would be ok, there are always individuals and groups who would use hate, intolerance and envy to foster violence.
My state would be generally democratic, in the small individual ways, but any attempt at disruption, any sign of the use of intolerance would be stepped upon heavily with incarceration and re-education. It sounds totalitarian, and it generally is. I make no apologies for that.
Protests would be allowed if folk wish to express dissatisfaction of the general matters of prices, jobs, services etc, but any group trying to complain about another community would feel a heavy hand of law. The watchwords being Compassion, Respect and Tolerance, set outside of those and you are in trouble.
There would also be no room for commercial companies in the supply of services, Education, Health, Transport networks, Law, Justice & Utilities.
The trouble with this vision is that it requires a cadre of people who have a fixed intention to public service and not their own appetites or prejudices and going back to the ‘Flaw’ elements in Humanity, we hit a problem.
I doubt if I will ever see my Firm But Fair Socialist form of government, give such a system a decade at most and corrosion would set in.
And so if Humanity does not learn to put a lid on Hate & Greed, it will become just a very thin smear in the fossil record.
I wish your ideas well, they would be worth a try.
All the best,
Roger

Admittedly, I have not kept up with this entire thread, for I have many things going on at the moment and limited resources, but I have to agree with you, Roger, based on what I have read. Human greed will overtake all else, given the opportunity, and mankind needs to have certain guidelines, laws, if you will. And now, I leave you all to carry on, for I am dealing with the serious illness of my best friend in the whole world tonight and have reached my limit. 😥

It is our mutual friend, David P, and I am very scared tonight … I called the N. Wales Police, but just have to wait … please keep him in our heart tonight … there will be no rest for me until I find he is safe.

Though your best friend of all time knows me naught from Adam, please give them my best regards for their desired outcome. Because they are your friend, they too have a place in my heart and in my mind.

Hey Roger, I personally think, though I may be wrong, that you underestimate what humans are cap[able of, given the opportunity to rule themselves. Yes, there are always those that are bullies, murderers, con artists, power-mad, greedy, selfish, etc., but right now that minority is given too much leeway and too much media attention. It is an imperfect balance. But sheer numbers would in time even those imbalances out.
And as far as it goes, I am all in favour of a totalitarian government, as long as the totalitarian is myself, or Sha’Tara. I’d love to add your name to that list, but I don’t know you well enough yet. Jill might make it, were she predisposed to it, but I don’t think she would want the job.
Power corrupts, and at this point (and given the people I think I know, which is not a big number for what it is worth) only Sha’Tara and myself are people I would consider as incorruptible. The downside is that both of us are senior citizens, and probably would not last long enough in power to do all the work that needs to be done. What would follow either of us, I would not be able to control, and politicians would probably rear their ugly heads all over again.
But wait, one other solution, let Sha’Tara and I reign together, and in the meantime get to know people like you better, and thus have a bigger pool of people to carry on from where we would leave off. I’m always open to suggestion. Meanwhile, I do have one other name to suggest, and that would be Heather Johnson of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, if she is still alive. The one that once worked for the United Way charity umbrella. Her heart is naturally in the right place, though I fear she is probably like Jill, not wanting to rule the world. (And Jill, if you would want to be the Supreme Leader of Earth, just let me know.)

Butting in here, can’t help it: I see Roger AND Jill as the perfect heart/mind pair to rule the whole planet. They so well complement one-another. Now it’s just a simple thing of getting them to agree and getting them to that place. How difficult can that be?

HAH!!!! As I just told rawgod … NO WAY!!! Now, I cannot speak for Roger, and he might be willing to give it a shot, but as for me … uh-uh … it would destroy me. But thanks a million for your vote of confidence! That means a lot!

Hi rawgod.
I am but a mere 66, so I might be too young for the job.
I am not suited to the position. If placed in a position of authority….. In social matters I am Left of Jeremy Corbyn, who is a bit too mild on party discipline. In matters of Law & Order I am slightly right of Ghengis Kahn. The dynamics would not suit.
Very focused on the stability of a nation, and anyone displaying Intolerance to any other group- full weight of the state!
Now if anyone wants me to be in charge of the Law Enforcement wing….oooops there I go again.
As I was just saying to Sha’ Tara, it’s as well I never went into politics.

Never too young, Roger, and never too old either, as long as your heart is in the right place. And I know what we are discussing right now–a totalitarian worldwide leadership being or group of beings–is all just so much pie-in-the-atmosphere, but the sentiments, feelings, ideas, etc underlying such a group are very important to discuss. And the first thing I would like to say to you, you would have to leave all the left-wing right-wing nationalistic bullshit behind to be able to do such a job.

In Sha’Tara’s words, you would have to rule with compassion, always considering the welfare and well-being of each and every sentient being on Earth, and elsewhere. In my words, you would have to have respect for all living beings, sentient or not, because our human vision of sentience leaves a lot to be desired when considering what sentience is. (We can only see sentience based on human understanding, and human understanding is but a drop in the bucket of life.) But, as we are mainly dealing with humans when we talk politics or government, I will try to reign my realm of reference in for the rest of this discussion.
Humans all need compassion, and all humans deserve respect, even those who don’t in someone else’s eyes. (Even The Donald, who has proven he has no respect for anyone. The thing is, we are all alive, living beings, and we are all on the same journey to a greater future than we can imagine right now. That ugly American military motto of “No man left behind” actually applies here. Every person (read living being, but I said I would not go there, lol) is important, and we cannot advance but that we all advance together at our own different rates.
So, what I am trying to say, there is no room for division along ANY LINES. Race, religion, nationality, gender, sexual persuasion, skinny, fat, short, tall, money, politics, NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, can be allowed to interfere with allowing people to live together with respect and compassion. And that is the vision anyone who becomes a world leader would need to have. And that would include Law Enforcement, because there would be no laws to enforce. (I know, seems impossible to even try to imagine, but give a listen to John Lennon’s song “Imagine” a hundred times over at one sitting. All this Mr. Lennon put into a song that takes but a few minutes to listen to. He gave this world a lot of great music, a lot of great ideas, but none is more important than the message he outlines in “Imagine,” and I’m not sure if even he realized the true depth and meaning of the words he penned in just a short moment of eternity. In my view of life, The Beatles, rock music, music, all artforms, life itself all came together in that one anthem, and it has been expanding ever since. When we all embrace that vision, only then can we aspire to what every evolutionary progression from the one-celled singularrity has aimed us towards since life came in being so many billions of years ago wherever it was that life actually came to be. Physical evolution was the means, spiritual evolution was the driving force. The evidence is before us to see, but we must be willing to look at it.
And again, I become a ghost…

I concur with the overall idea rawgod, but history indicates Humanity has a knack of ruining something because of petty fears which the greedy, the charlatan and the hatemonger are willing to exploit.
All you say is possible, but in my grim-sided opinion it would need a world-wide re-education, backed by massive social infrastructure spending; those resources are available.
And comes my tricky bit- slogan ‘If you are not with us, you are against us’. So extremes who will not comply are in for a hard time- they won’t be seen in public until they are convinced their ways are wrong. NO messing around.
In Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, O’Brien say the future is ‘a boot being stamped on a human face’- not gonna work mate. In the transitional phase the future is ‘ a human being led by one hand, while the other hand waves one cautionary index finger’
It’s socialism, but not as many woolly-headed socialists would see it. And of course will give libertarians nightmares.

Nightmares is what I want them to have, lol. I could not have asked for a better straight line if I tried. I offer you Robert F. Kennedy in rebuttal, “There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask Wny Not.” (My capitals, for emphasis!)
Or John Lennon:
“You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I’m not the only one,
PERHAPS SOME DAY YOU’LL JOIN US
And the world will live as one.”

Give up those history lessons, Roger, join us, and learn to dream. Everything is possible, including changing the world. Trump has no idea what he is doing, but even if he did it is already too late. He is creating the perfect conditions for the world to go through some amazing changes. They can be life-harming changes, or they can be life-enhancing changes. Please work to enhance life, not harm life! No offence, Roger, but you are putting the proof to Pogo’s assertion, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” And please allow me to rewrite your tricky statement, “If you are not with us, you are _________! (Fill in the blank with whatever word you like, but my choices would be stubborn, blind, stupid, ornery, unimaginative, republican, conservative, assinine, regretful, etc. I think you get the picture.)
See, I can write quotes too. And I can even change them, lol.
But seriously, Roger, we need as much help as we can get. And we don’t need money to do it. The power is there in the hands of half the people on earth, and one or two others. All it takes is mothers teaching their babies when the babies are still small enough to be taught. Right now most mothers are teaching their children to maintain the status quo, because things could be much worse. But tell that again to the kids of the xmas family annihilator in Victoria, BC, Canada. A stupid judge maintained the status quo, and now two cute little girls are dead because of him. I hope he gets charged with aiding and abetting those murders. If he wasn’t so stubbornly blind the girls would be alive today. My girlfriend and I were lucky years ago in a court battle over custody of her children from her broken marriage. He listened to all the adults’arguments and testimonies, and in the end took her two daughters into his chambers. They came out five minutes later, and the judge ruled custody was being granted to my gf and I. Her ex jumped up and ordered his lawyer to do something, so she asked on what the judge had based his decision. The answer, he asked the girls who they wanted to live with, and they told the judge their mother. He then asked them why, and they said because she doesn’t hit them.” These girls were not coached, no one had any inkling that the judge was going to talk to them in chambers. He asked the girls to be honest, and they were brutally honest. The worst part was that the judge did not order social services to look into the abuse allegations. The azzhole should gave been sent to jail. (At that point in my life, I had not yet realized that I don’t believe in jails.)
Anyways, my point was that the “status quo” is not a safe place to be, so why are mothers teaching their babies that it is? One last quote from Crosby, Stills, and Nash before I turn into a ghost:
“Teach your children well…
And feed them on your dreams”

I wish you well rawgod.
Sadly my experience and view points do not concur with yours. I never bought into ‘Imagine’ even when young.
My outlook will always be a harsher one, to keep a frim grip, to avoid the outbreak of a ‘mob’.
For me there can only be a slow evolution of people realising that conflict between communities is abhorrent and to look down upon your fellow person because of race, religion or adult orientation is a crime to be, quite frankly, dealt with sternly. A second, lesser crime is the hoarding of wealth for ones personal greed; taxation would be strong and targeting those who can pay.
For a while it may be a world where folk will learn to tread carefully, but it would be one where a person of any colour can walk without fear of assault, where the weak and old can go anywhere they please without fear of criminal assault, where children might be children without the predatory influence of greedy or warped adults. And armies would be part of the rescue services in natural disasters.
My world would not be your world.
My world is that of the thoughtful, serious face, thinking ‘What more can be done to improve’.
Yours socialistly
Roger

Hey Roger, you must have enjoyed the concept of government in “Utopia” by Thomas More! Unfortunately your concept of strong government has been tried many times and failed miserably. Reminds me somewhat of the concept of Brave New World, except you would use force instead of drugs to make people behave according to the master plan. Force an Earthian to go in a certain direction and be certain that s/he will constantly pull at the leash to go in the opposite. Based on best information, by now at least Americanada and the European Union should be basking in a quasi just society, short work week, high wages, having benefited from the lion’s share of the earth’s resources and built up their “democracies” on joyful consumerism damn the consequences… yet we are certainly reverting to a time of totalitarianism, serfdom, homelessness, debilitating debt and taxation creating conditions of stress leading to collective angst, distrust, racism, bigotry with the take-over of government by the highest bidder or financial backer. Democracies (so-called, they never were) have always been plutocracies.

My question to you is, who would be these trusty and trustable rulers who would reign over your top-down controlled society? Who/what would ensure they didn’t become power corrupt overnight? If you can’t trust people to rule themselves, how can you trust someone in power to provide the necessary moral fibre to deal justly with all regardless of financial worth, race, sex, age, religion? Where would you find these paragons of virtue to lead the land into happiness through just equality? If they failed, who would hold them accountable since the people would have no say in any of it, not being trustworthy of self rule?

Well like Edison said ‘I’ve not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that don’t work’.
Oh, I do admit the problem lies in the old question of ‘Who shall guard the guardians? (or ‘Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?’ if we wish to be classical).
Who can we trust with such a burden? Of course I am admirably suited for such a role, because as many before me I know because I trust my judgement (satire).
It is a problem, a conundrum I puzzle on. The starting point from this perspective would seem to be an education system which places emphasis on service to one’s fellow above one’s own, and plenty of folk with loud voices will howl down that one because it’s too much like hard and selfless work.
We have a squeaky world where many will talk at great length about their own personal rights but never about their responsibilities.
I got it!…….
Hobbes: Leviathan!!

A Christian commonwealth ruled by an absolute monarch… oh my, I wonder what American Fuddlementalist Trumpers would make of that? Probably love it, except for those parts in the book that speak of public support for those who cannot support themselves.

They wouldn’t last a week, because they’d not bow before a monarch or suffer a state religion with the king in charge. They, after all, believe in Democracy, just so long as it is exactly as they want it to be. Also they’d have problems with the care for all aspect.
Nope, I’m afraid it would be the stake or ‘The Tower’ for them. (although a few might get away with being dubbed ‘harmless through lack of wits’ and allowed to wander about the place.
No options for a rickety sailing ship to go off somewhere and brutalise the native. population.
(If my wife reads this, I am going to get such a telling off for airing my sio-political views)

Thanks Sha’ Tara.
I like to demonstrate it is possible to have dogged, austere, scroogley views and yet still maintain an off-wall sense of humour about everything including one’s own views….a facet sadly lacking in folk who are supposed to occupy the same political ground.
Until we recognise we are all essentially prone to silliness then we will never advance.
Glad to be supplying chuckles!

Politics does that. I get confused too.
The problem lies in when moving from the basic ideal into the practical which in turn unearths evidence from previous efforts and the general behaviour of people when unsettled. Then come along the conflicting dynamics at every turn. These in turn lead to ideas on how to surmount them, which themselves will appear at great variance with others, and even with the initial idea you started out with. Caution at every turn thus becomes important, all factors need to be taken into account lest disaster arises.
For example who would believe something as (be honest) turgid as Das Kapital would be picked up and morphed about until we witnessed the excesses of the first 30 years of Soviet Russia, 1950/60sMoaist and dread Pol Pot regimes.
The above examples are the problems with my system, can I trust any group of individuals to wield such power?

Yes, as I just mentioned to Sha’Tara earlier today, no one can control what happens to their ideas once they are gone. That is why, even while I am talking about doing something big in a big way, that is truly less than a pipe dream. My preferred method, while I am here, is subtle infiltration, raising consciousness rather than convincing people to change. That is the mistake made by every great religion or social movement in history, and while they may have succeeded in increasing their numbers exponentially, they accepted into their ranks people who were inclined to ignore teachings, people who took advantage of the sheep they found themselves among. The vision I have, the vision I try to share, is not based on numbers, it is based on understanding and choice. If anything ever comes of my work, well and good. If nothing ever comes of my work, I am not worried. Spiritual evolution predicts that others will come up with similar ideas in different futures. It is inevitable, as long as the human race, or any intelligent race, is still around to evolve. I don’t need people doing things because I tell them to do those things. In fact, I don’t want anyone doing anything if I have to tell them to do it. I do not want to start a religion call “rawgodity,” or a way of thought called “rawgodism,” this is not the goal I aim towards. My goal is to have intelligent races evolving into a world such as the one you described two days ago. A world where they don’t kill any living being wantonly, pretending they are gods in control of others’ lives. If they need to hunt for food, or kill plants so they will become food, that is a natural process. Life lives on life lives on life… Trophy hunters are wanna-be gods: “See, I killed this animal because I was in control, I, with my mighty rifle, slew this beast and put its head on my wall, because I was this beast’s god!!!” Am I exaggerating? Only insofar as I am exposing the inner feelings of those who need to feel superior to someone or something else. They are bullies with weapons. And they contaminate the evolutionary process. But give them a few more incarnations, and they too will turn into tree-huggers, because that is the inevitable direction evolution is taking us in. Consciousness-raising is a real possibility in one lifetime, but given the opportunities of raising consciousness through reincarnation, it is a certainly that spirits are going to evolve. And that is the truth behind any vision I have. It might take 5 years, it might take 5,000 years, it might take 5,000,000 years, but as long as there is life, there is hope, or, in my case, there is evolution of the spirit.

But don’t take this as an attempt to change you, Roger, or your mind. All I want is your spirit to listen, and to remember. All else is “samsara”–only real until you die.

Hi rawgod
I can go with the concept of 5,000 years seeing as how we’ve been mis-behaving for the past 5,000. It would be comforting to think we are at half-way point, and turn away from our usual mistakes (If we don’t we’ll be that ‘smear’ on the fossil record).
Y’see there is a possibility that my imperfect notion is just one part of the evolution ‘the knocking of heads together’ stage. It’s a thought.

It is, but it is one I hope we can avoid. Humans no longer “knock heads” with clubs that only knock one head at a time (even though in cave man days 1 head may have had the same proportionality as 1 million heads have today), we are now swinging clubs that can knock millions of heads with 1 blow. Might be more effective, but it certainly is more messy. Not to be uncaring, because we must care about every life (not just human life), but still we could absorb one million simultaneous deaths and not miss too many steps (theoretically-speaking, of course), but the fallout from those million deaths could end up killing all life on Earth, and that is entirely unacceptable, I vote for no head knocking at all, but rather a lot of peaceful handshaking. Is that agreeable to you.
Meanwhile, I am glad you can accept taking 5000 years to reach a vision something like mine, and based on the number of human generations that have spent time on this Earth, we have evolved spiritually as a good rate as the universe goes. But I certainly hope we are more than halfway along our spiritual evolutionary path. I personally would prefer the 500 year plan, less chance for something to go wrong.
The good thing about what I see when I study our spiritual history, is that the more we evolve, the faster we evolve. Obviously we do not all evolve at the same pace, but while the physical evolution of the Earth is still crawling along at a pace so slow, we cannot see its effects within one lifetime, spiritual evolution is now advancing at a noticeable pace. We are basically of the same age, you and I. Can you imagine two fairly average older peopl in the 50s having a conversation such as we have been having these past few days? I certainly could not. My father, as far as I know, never had a spiritual thought in his life. Yet, here we are, two total strangers, conversing about life and spirituality as it were a totally normal topic for conversation (and I hope it is a perfectly normal topic of conversation for anyone nowadays) Without really trying, and against one helluva lot of organized opposition, such conversations are becoming the norm. I know I am willing to have them with anyone: theist, atheist, non-ist, all-ist, god, devil, ant or elephant. And I know I can hold my own against anyone, if that is the kind of conversation they want. I prefer non-combative information-exchanging discussions, because I love to learn new things, even if they are not going to sway my belief system one iota. But I am willing to change that belief system if I see something that benefits my own. Sha’Tara made me consider the quality of compassion as a crucial tool in raising the consciousness of humans. Somehow that quality had never even entered the discussion before she put it out there. Not only did I add the discussion of compassion to my toolbox, but I added a few others along with it, empathy for example. Notice I said the discussion of compassion; I hope I have always been a compassionate man, but I took it for granted that it was part of my belief system without ever even a knowledging it. I accuse people of taking life for granted all the time, yet I myself was taking other things for granted. Look, Ma, i’m a hypocrite, and I did not even know it…

In our thought processes we are complex constructs, yet in terms of the broad canvas of Life there is little between us and a humble field mouse.
We are individuals with our own thoughts, hopes and dreams, and yet in the scale of The Universe we are like the quarks which make up one human body.
These are concepts which if they stopped to think would drive the egotists and opportunists who strive for control of communities or nations insane. None of us are so very important, and none of us are ‘god-like’.
Thus we only achieve and progress when we work together, in harmony. Harmony is hard to forge, there are always those who will seek to destroy this. Harmony, as I see it comes at a price. ‘Ask not what my country can do for me, but what I can do for my country’…and spread that out using the word ‘world’
‘Knocking heads’ for me comes in the form of education/indoctrination. The basis being, indeed..Compassion, along with Respect and Tolerance. If a person or group will not embrace those, in my (let us say) Transitional State, they are in big trouble, there would be no ‘right’ to be offensive to others, or to express ‘my freedom to speak my mind’ if it spews forth Hate.
It is good to discuss, as we do now. And there is no crisis in disagreement. People can say ‘Well, that’s not for me neighbour. But you do it your way and I’ll do it mine and if you need a lend of any of my toolkit let me know’
May be, just may be we are on our way.
But always with caution and care for Hubris is a constant. Lest we end up as that mere smear on the fossil record.
I never liked hypocrisy, except in my own case, where there are extenuating circumstances.
Best wishes
Roger

Nice post, Roger, reflecting most of my own entiments. I would like to expand on your area of reference, though. The world isn’t a big enough target, I think we have to aim universally. Not just globally. This may sound to some like bordering on hubris, but “the beating of a butterflies’ wings in China…”” I think we have to be aware we are beating our breasts on Earth, but this might effect the course of a thrown stone on a planet in the Aldeberran system., or even the flight of a fly-like insect on a planet in the Whirlpool Galaxy. We just don’t know, but we should be aware. Our lives do matter, even if only to us.
And where I come from, calm communication is a leading cause of creating collaboration.

“And where I come from, calm communication is a leading cause of creating collaboration.”
Oh man I’m with you all the way there rawgod!
As we may be inadvertently taking over Jill’s original post, I think I feel a post of my own coming on…..

I dunno where we are finding them nor why we have so many, Roger, but … I’m thinking … 🤔🤔🤔 (be afraid … be very afraid when I think this hard) that it hardly seems fair for us to have so many, so in the future, we will start sharing them and sending at least half to the UK. Never let it be said that we are not generous …

Yeh, they’d just love our NHS and lack of constitution they can hide behind…and they can’t carry gunz 🤣! Then there’s our vociferous and voluble hard-left who’ll go orgasmic at the thought of so many easy targets!
Send ’em over!

Nothing new here. How quickly people forget their history, in this case the Joe McCarthy era. McCarthy was an ultra right-winged drunken “fascist” who saw a communist in anyone who didn’t support him. Many people, particularly in journalism and education, tarred and feathered by that pervert’s “un-American activities hearings” lost their jobs, their reputations, their families, even their freedom, just because. No, nothing new, and if I may make a politically incorrect observation, this particular pervert has the perfect face for a minister of propaganda. Seig Heil!

Quite so … I immediately thought of Stalin when I heard the word “purge”, but McCarthy is certainly an apt comparison also. What keeps me awake nights is not just that this jerk thinks this way, but the thought that there may be many more in Congress or headed there who think the same. We have the wealthiest Congress in modern history … most seem perfectly willing to lick Trump’s boots. They pander, they jockey for most favourable position … and our voices are going largely unheard, or at least unheeded. Do they sit around the supper table at night and regale their families with stories about how they socked it to the American people once again? While Trumpeters sit at their supper table and speak of how wonderful he is to increase their taxes, take away their healthcare, and poison the very air they breathe. Sorry … forgive me … I am in a foul mood over his ‘revenge’ against the UN tonight. To your point though … yes, this reeks of McCarthyism. Let us take a few more steps backward …

Jill, if I am permitted, I am going on this man’s website and ask the question I ask of others. “Do you really want to spend your reputation on this man?” My sister and I were talking about saying “no” to people. I have rarely regretted saying no, but I pointed out all those folks who told the President no, they did not want to work for him, are smiling. Keith

Excellent! I hadn’t thought of doing that, but it is a good idea. Were you able to? Can you imagine working in that toxic environment? I cannot. I always said of Sean Spicer that he was out of his league, too much of a decent human being to survive all the alligators in the Trump swamp. But apparently there are enough who don’t mind selling their souls downriver for $$$$$$. I have to wonder how they sleep at night. If I accidentally step on the kittie’s tail, it keeps me awake at night.

Politically compromised sounds a bit like like politically incorrect according to DT and the gang. Government is becoming outlandish and scary. The Nazis probably considered anyone, not a Nazi was politically compromised. It will fit anywhere as, “Those who think like (fill in the blank) are politically compromised.” 😦 — Suzanne

You are right, and it is frightening. Most frightening of all is the 1/3 of the country who are willing to entrust their futures, their very lives, to these fascists who ride into Congress on our votes, and then promptly forget that we even exist, pursuing their own agenda dominated by $$$$$$$.

I’m with you … I would not be able to sleep. Twice in my career as a CPA, I quit jobs because I was asked to do something that was unethical. But my best guess is that if these people in Congress ever had consciences, they sold them downriver when the lobbyists came along and showed them all the bright, shiny objects that could be theirs just for a vote for this, or against that. The thing is, until we reverse Citizens United and establish term limits, it is unlikely to change.

Frightening. Where are the Dems? Our Democracy is under dire threat, and too many of them have tried to just keep their head down and ride it out for their own reelection. We need a confident opposition…our very country is at stake and clearly no help is coming from the Right.

Much as I hate to say it, I fear that even the Dems have decided to lie down and have their tummies rubbed. I am disappointed in them all, Dem and Rep alike, and I wish I could say there are big changes coming in the coming year, but I’m not very confident. Sigh.

Dissenters must have a voice in all areas of human activity , to silence anyone is dangerous and we can see this in Iran at this moment in time.
We are all dissenters of certain types of human activity and consenters of other types. When government thinks it knows best it it out of touch with the population. When I was a young boy my parents decided what was good or bad for me , but now I must decide for myself , likewise the people must decide what laws should be enacted by the state.

I think the voice is loud and clear even in difficult situations like Turkey and Iran. I’m thankful for the young in many colleges and universities who question what they fed. The young may be foolhardy and impulsive at times but they take the bull by the horns. Then we have those who work hard on social media to combat wrong thinking in all its forms. We all have a part to play and while we are playing our own rough edges are smoothed down and we learn to think about the world and all its ramifications.

Historically, when a system is allowed to get this corrupt, there is no “fix” as such. The system brings the country, or empire down. Last resort trick is to engineer a major war as your empire is doing in several places at the moment. After the war(s) fail, as they must, then there is either a complete collapse of the system with people struggling to survive (as in Puerto Rico for example) or there is a revolution and (as in France, Russia) the System stays in power under a different leadership of psychopaths. The sad aspect of American politics today is the belief among the non-Trumpers that a return to Democrat rule will fix anything. The Obama regime was just as corrupt as is Trump’s, except that in catering to mega corporations, it was much more subtle and hypocritical. Trump didn’t create the wars in Africa and the Greater Middle East, he inherited them and all the military-political corruption they hide. After Bush, Obama had 8 years to end those wars, but that wasn’t why he was “elected” as some people like to think he was. There was an agenda in Obama’s flash in the pan “success.” Let’s not forget that it was Obama who gave billions to the fat cats in 2008. That was very much part of the deal.
It takes intelligence and courage to terminate a non-working “benign” totalitarian two-party system that guarantees the same elitist apparatus sucks the blood from the people and the land. It rarely happens. America is on life support. Trump wants to pull the plug on most connections. The Dems will just find ways to profit from leaving the moribund body on full life support. In the end, it will still be the end. Let me make this prediction and it will be a tell-all: when the Dems return to power, the military will continue to receive as much financial “support” as it is under Trump. Smart people ask two questions from that: why? and where is the money coming from?

You fight because you have to; you have to live with yourself in the end. I have my own reasons to “fight” though I don’t do it in the traditional way. I’m a virus, I undermine the system by introducing a subtle poison in its veins. It no longer knows I even exist (as it did when I was a very outspoken activist) I practice a kind of compassionate, detached “satyagraha”; a definitely non-violent (the System just loves violent opponents) type of calculated, deliberate non-cooperation. I mock all ads, promotions, commercials and propaganda. I like to respond to phone solicitors, for example by saying, “Are you saying I’m too stupid to know when I need something that you have to waste my time by calling me to tell me I need it? And if I don’t need it, are you saying I’m so stupid I’ll still buy it? Where do you get off calling me to insult me, I don’t even know you!” That usually takes care of that. Let’s just stop being sheep; take charge of our own lives, be responsible. When it comes to my “favourite” three enemies, religion, politics and money, I study where I can use them while making it more difficult for them to target me for plucking. We’ve been so dummied down, so brainwashed and weakened we think we just can’t do without all those church/government/corporate/banksterism false handouts. Zombies… they’ve turn the majority into compliant zombies! How do you reinstate a zombie into a fully functional human being again? I have no idea. It’s winter up here in Canada. It’s cold, there’s snow and ice, stuck vehicles, power outages. Lots of people need help so I do what I can. I’m “on call” for those in dire needs. So I help, but I have no illusions that they are learning anything from me showing up. They’re more likely to give God or some religion credit for my appearance…! But in the end, I have to live with myself. If I have the wherewithal to help, then it’s what I do. A long time ago I read something like, “pray, vote, talk” with your hands, feet and wallet. That’s one way of looking at it. I sleep good at night. Sorry for the rant, but I think you ‘n I have a lot in common here… I’ll close with this wonderful personal motto to explain all of my life: expect the worst, you’ll never be disappointed! That keeps me going, smiling and laughing! 🙂

I absolutely love your response to the telephone solicitors. My response is simply to not answer the phone, for I do not have time to be bothered, but perhaps one day I shall answer and borrow a page from your book, just for fun! And yes, I do what I can to help people, but like you, I realize that they do not necessarily take a lesson from it, are more likely to thank some being whose existence I question, and will not necessarily pass a good deed on. My faith in humanity, in human nature, has dropped sharply in the past decade. And thanks for your ‘rant’ … I always enjoy your views.